Paths of Possession - The End of the Hour (2007)

   Melodic death metal is somehow a paradox term, and even in practice it might be difficult to pull things together in this style. It's clear that a whole scene was formed for this subgenre in Göteborg Sweden, and after the (unfortunate) style change of Carcass, this scene had main influence in the development of melodic death metal.
   But fortunately a few bands didn't step into the line to play this style the same way, like leaving behind all death metal features except growling vocals, and to play something that hardly could be called as something death metal related. Paths of Possession belongs to those few bands who were able to create something that can fit to that paradox term. They've kept most death metal features and only frequent melodies making their music different from ordinary death metal. Unlike most other bands in this style, the song structures didn't simplified and led only by one catchy melody that determines the whole song. The proportion of heavy riffings stayed fixed on the side of catchy melodies, and theme changes are also common. By keeping this musical complexity the band showed an example how to not collapse into emotional masturbation or to how to not drift "accidentally" into mainstream in an audience friendlier subgenre. By the lyrics they also didn't turn away from the roots of death metal, and if it wasn't enough, the characteristic growling style of Mr. George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher (ex-Monstrosity, late Cannibal Corpse) also makes sure to keep it brutal. Their music can be enjoyable for melodic death fans and for ordinary death metal fans too.

Demiricous - Two (Poverty) (2007)

   Demiricous debuted as a band with mainly too obvious Slayer influences, and with a sound that was enough harsh and noisy to push further their music to the borderline of death metal.
    The first album somehow gave the impression, that the band just randomly mixed their various influences, but by their second arrival they've returned with a more unified style, and the symptoms of Slayer overdose also decreased. On "Two" they've operated with simpler riffs that are suspecting some hardcore influence too, and not only because of the groovier simplicity of their themes, but the vocal style also changed from growling to shouting. However the main view turned closer to thrash metal too and it's more effective by it's bare aggressiveness. Even though the band mostly had old school influences, it's easy to realize that Demiricous is a modern project partly beacuse of the sound and also because of the song structures. But still this fast developed change had a very positive effect on their music and refers to the dirty depths of a real thrash moshpit. All-in-one "Two" is a quite enjoyable and intense thrash material, recommended for the fans of the genre.

Witchery - Don't Fear the Reaper (2006)

   As it was previously mentioned, there are plenty of bands in Sweden who are dedicated to refer back to the style of the '80s with their music by playing something that is somewhere between Venom and Bathory in style.
   The same mix of heavy, speed, thrash and black metal is reflecting back from the music of Witchery who were formed in the late '90s. "Dont' Fear the Reaper" is their 4th full-lenght album in line. There are plenty of catchy songs and riffs to find on the album, that count as real heavy/speed metal gems, and thogether with the excellent sound, they are very effective. Blackened vocal style is narrating the lyrics, that could sound very nostalgic by their typical '80s touch. For some it might seem that the band was a bit hasty with making the album, cause some songs sound incomplete by leaving a feeling that something's missing.  That's partly because of the effectiveness of songs like "Stigmatized", "Draw Blood" or Damned in Hell", and als because the band probably wanted to band focuse more on thrash influences at other songs. Of course a more balanced mix would sound better, but "Don't Fear the Reaper" offers enjoyable entertainment for the fans of old school influenced metal.

Doomraiser - Lords of Mercy (2006)

   Doomraiser's concept and basics are definitely rooting back to the '80s classic doom metal, but similar to most new age doom metal bands, they also imported plenty of style features from stoner rock. Therefore it wouldn't be incorrect to call them as a stoner/doom band.
   The extended song lengths, repetitive riffings and the mystical, occult topics are quite old school doom references, but the stoner rock influenced groovy tendencies, the vocal style and the chilled touch neutralizing the effectiveness of these dark, ominous features before they would be able to form. With other words: even if doom have been raised, it suddenly took a friendly form. This instant style mixing became usual from the late '90s, and by more developed sound quality as an effective assistance it became a trend from the '00s. It happened slowly step by step, and since then it became difficult to find any new age doom metal band who didn't import any stoner rock features. But since the two styles are strongly related by having the same origin, they're easy to combine and this solution works so well, that not everyone notices. Also it's able to give a more modern touch to the classic sound of doom. Doomraiser successfully highlighted the advances and catchiness of both styles for their own favour by making their music diverse enough to have some enjoyable detail to discover for the listener for long term listening. "Lords of Mercy" is a potential favorite for the fans of doom metal and stoner rock. 

Catafalc - Pain Performance (2006)

   Catafalc was formed in the late '90s and it took for a while to release their debut, that proved to be very intense and stunning. 
   On "Pain Performance" mainly the influence of mainstream death metal bands could be sensed (Cannibal Corpse, Deicede, Suffocation), while the expression shows analogy with the modern sound of brutal death. The themes often referring to old Cannibal Corpse, while the common speed switches, the intense hammering parts and the presence of a second backing vocal are evidently brutal death features. This approach is closer to the style of bands like Suffocation or Deeds of Flesh. The gore centered lyrical concept and the style how it was written also referring to Cannibal Corpse. The album is less than 30 mins long, but the extreme aggressiveness of the music is enough filling to not leave any missing feeling behind. It just sounds like an outbursting rageful rampage that consumes all in it's way without taking any rest. So the main concept is kind of simple, but the implementation is high quality and effective, therefore "Pain performance" could be like an absolute win for the fans of brutal death. 

Barbatos - Let's Fucking Die! (2006)

   Barbatos was founded in the mid '90s as Yasuyuki Suzuki's (Abigail) side project, and over the years it gained similarly notorious and cultic status by it's never endig productiveness, like Mr. Suzuki's main band. 
   Even though the main concept was similar, fortunately it's not an exact copy of a main project like how usually side projects are ending up. Barbatos could be also called as "street metal" like Abigail and also reaches it's "evilness", if these lovely titles could be or should be taken seriously, but the approach of Barbatos is more old school (like if Abigail wasn't enough old school already). Japanese bands really like to dig deep to the very roots of music genres, and in this case Mr. Suzuki dug as deep as possible. The music is more into thrash metal, and also have strong punk influences. This mix of punk, black and thrash metal is like an experiment to recall an old school '80s feeling that may sound very nostalgic, but never really existed in this form that time. This is quite usual at new waved old school oriented bands too, and it's also a main importance for them to imitate the rehearsal/demo-like sound of  the '80s underground. The main impression of this style mix is like if it was the more aggressive and dark toned version of Motörhead and Venom. The returning lyrical topics like war (mainly WWII addiction, but from Japanese aspect), sex, partying, sympathy for occultism, and the pornographic imagery are strictly following the musical concept. It makes the Motörhead-like exaggerated party compatible impression stronger. Sex, drinks and rock and roll... (alongside a little bit of war and satanism).

Fatal Embrace - Dark Pounding Steel (2006)

   Fatal Embrace is haunting the German thrash metal scene since the early '90s as one of it's less known, and wildest bands. Similar to many of their coetaneous bands, their full-lenght debut release was manifested only at the end of the decade, so they also haven't partaken much from the first great wave of extreme metal.
   "Dark Pounded Steel" was their third full-lenght album, on which an already well experienced band could be heard. Compared to their earliest releases the musical and sound development is quie spectacular. The good old dirty sounding thrashing turned heavier, and therefore the border of thrash/death metal seemed closer than ever. The band didn't keep their influences in secret, and those are showing through on the basic perspective of thrash metal. The Death cover song is one thing, but in the followings quite surprising references are there to find, that are reminding to Sarcófago (the "Laws of the Scourge" era) or to Sabbat. But basically nothing shocking happened, the band always seemed to sympathize with the dark toned concept of Slayer, and all the followings could be deducted from this point whether they are direct references or cioncidental. However this made the album not only nostalgic, but also summarized the thrash related well made experiments of the late '80s/early '90s embedded into modern sound quality.

Blizzard - Les Litanies De Satan (2006)

   By following the traditional Norwegian style of black metal, Blizzard debuted after a few demo records with "Les Litanies De Satan".
   However modern influences also could be sensed on the album on the side of the old school blackness. Their music is more riff-centric than the old classics are, and the themes showing larger diversity. The album is also more melodic the same time, it's like trying to take place somewhere in the middle while drifting between various influences. The atmosphere has minimal role therefore, and occasionally deep growls assisting to the ordinary black cawing to turn the main impression more inhuman. So "Les Litanies De Satan" includes a little bit of everything and formed a whole from all. This counts definitely as the strong point of the album, because this mix wasn't against unified sound and serves as a genuine feature, an alternative aspect how the style developed further. The album could be enjoyable not only for the fans of traditional black metal, but also for those who prefer the more melodic or modern styles of the genre.

Bloodboil - Festering Fornication (2006)

   There was an endless line of brutal death bands in the late 00's, but only a few of them were memorable. Bloodboil was fortunately one of those who offered more than bare technical brutality that's able to turn the whole music totally boring after one minute of listening.
   "Festering Fornication", their one and only album mixed old school influences with the modern direction of brutal death. Their riffing and drumming style often referred to late Cannibal Corpse (even the cover artwork showed similarities), and they've also symphatized with technical themes that reminded to the intensity of Deeds of Flesh. They had quite catchy themes and switching solutions that made their music much more enjoyable than most modern brutal death with their sudden math metal-like theme switches. Bloodboil also experimented with some, but they didn't go too far with those. High sound quality and deep growling vocal style completed the circle, and of course the inevitable lyrical concept based on gore and killing spree. "Festering Fornication" is an excellent brutal death album, could be very entertaining for the fans of the genre.

Wormphlegm - Tomb of the Ancient King (2006)

   Wormphlegm's full-length debut "Tomb of the Ancient King" earned cultic status in the past several years, and some even looking at this record as a subgenre renewing milestone. Or as the basics of a newly formed subgenre related to funeral doom. Both might be quite debatable statements, and most probably shouldn't be taken more seriously than the ordinary deep desire for creating or discovering something new that nobody has done before.
   First of all, Wormphlegm should be taken as an experimental band, and despite their music is quite difficult to go into, it's important to not forget that not all experiments are ending up as something great. In fact, most experiments does not, that's why they are experiments. The band's first release was a demo given the gag title "In an Excruciating Way Infested with Vermin and Violated by Executioners Who Practise Incendiarism and Desanctifying the Pious". The very relatable feeling, so to say. The demo was closer to funeral doom basics than the "Tomb of the Ancient King", but already had experimental ambitions. The leading role was kinda equally shared between funeral doom and strongly atmospheric blackened influences. But since the whole demo is just one more than half hour long song, the listener's patience and nerves are already getting put to the trial. On the full-length, the atmosphere takes over and basically its endless extension could be mainly found responsible for the 1 hour long duration of total 3 songs. Meanwhile, similar to depressive black metal or to drone metal, instrumentally not much is happening, but at least the demo quality effects and the tormented shrieks making the whole thing hard to go into. It's also important to note, that if a music is difficult to listen to, that's not necessarily the proof of its heaviness. Especially in this case, when the thick atmosphere, strong echoing effects and the demo-like quality basically almost completely neutralizing the heaviness of the remained funeral doom features. And it's a natural outcome in this case of style merging. It's fine as an extensive sound check in the rehearsal rooms with some experimenting improvisations, but it's still just minimal effort. "Tomb of the Ancient King" might be enjoyable for the fans of depressive black and atmospheric funeral doom.